A Bookshelf Far Far Away
by Brievel
Summary: I know it's out of style, but prompts are just so fun! Star Wars Originals and Prequels, and sometimes Clone Wars (Disney is not welcome here.) 1 word plus 1 or 2 characters plus an interactive audience plus a sleep-deprived author equals...
1. Merit - Piett

**Been wanting to write but my muse has been on vacation. I realize it's an old gig but some people are still doing it (and well!) so I decided to ask for prompts. One word, one character (or a combination of two.) No EU (past or present), Rebels, or anything produced by Disney, really... Original Trilogy, Prequels, and Clone Wars only, please.**

 **This prompt was given by the wildly talented Malicean. Girl can write politics like nobody's business, and make it fascinating.**

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Captain Firmus Piett really wished they'd stop sending brand-new fresh-out-of-the-Academy recruits to the Executor. No one in their right mind wanted to be sent to Darth Vader's ship, after all, but newly-minted and desperate to prove themselves graduates were probably the only ones willing to sign up. Still, the Imperial Military didn't have that notable a problem with conscription. Why couldn't they send veterans who had proved their competence?

In the Captain's _very private_ opinion, not everything that resulted in a summary execution merited such drastic measures. It was, he could admit deadpan, a very effective strategy at weeding out fools. But single harmless mistakes, especially from someone new and untried… it seemed a little harsh. Of course, no one said so. To speak up was to invite a death sentence. But as Captain, he could at least keep an eye on his officers, protect his immediate subordinates… and with the proper attention, choose officers who felt at least somewhat the same way.


	2. Reminisce - Obi-Wan

Getting off the Death Star was almost easier than it had any right to be. The fact that both twins were side-by-side and Luke's Force presence blazed into being and Anakin's memory was roughly jogged and suddenly Darth Vader knew with terrible certainty both who the adopted Princess Leia and young wannabe Jedi Luke were, probably contributed. Another madcap dash through a highly dangerous facility with barely the bones of a working non-plan with a Skywalker and a loudmouthed brunette girl… it was almost like old times, Obi-Wan thought reminiscently. The nausea-inducing flight as they were chased by ten times more enemies than was reasonable was also familiar. The snappish retorts traded between young Luke and the crazy cocky pilot could have come from twenty years ago. (Leia was more acerbic than her mother, though. It was only thing keeping Obi-Wan grounded in the here and now.)

"You're going to crash!" Leia exclaimed.

"I never crash, sweetheart," Han Solo snapped back.

A sudden warning in the Force, and Luke's alarmed voice. "Look ou-"

Darth Vader stared, numb, as the Millennium Falcon went up in flames, the out-of-control TIE obliterated by the bigger ship's cockpit. Cybernetic hands were frozen to his yoke as he watched his last remaining family – the child... _ren_ he thought dead at his hand, his old Master – vanish forever from the galaxy. His last link to _Her._ His last connection to his old life, who he used to be. His eyes could no longer produce tears, but they could burn, and burn they did.

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 **The spectacularly over-achieving Fulcon offered three prompts: Obi-Wan - Reminisces, Darth Vader - Weeps, Han Solo - Crashes. I was just too evil not to combine them all into one.**


	3. Hope - Palpatine

Darkness was his constant friend. Physical darkness, mental darkness, emotional darkness, Forceful Darkness. He detested the Light, always had. The weak ones who prattled on about such useless emotions and concepts as "love" and "hope" only aroused his contempt. Didn't they know that the light always went out, that even if it flickered forlornly back to life, darkness would choke it to death again? That no matter how many battles were fought, the darkness would always win? It was so easy to turn love into fear and hatred, so easy to rip out hope by the roots, dangle it tauntingly above the victim before casting it away forever. Oh no, Darkness was the only true ally. Darkness was the only one that could be trusted. Darkness would always win. Darkness was invincible.

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 **Today's prompt was delivered by the wonderful DarthRuinous, she gave me Palpatine and Hope. Of course Palpatine's warped view wouldn't allow for anything brighter.**


	4. Pilgrim - Palpatine

Senator Palpatine pulled his hood a little further forward to conceal his face, make him just another pilgrim in the crowd oozing towards Shiraya's shrine. Not that he worshipped such a myth, she had certainly never sent _him_ any help. No, he had another target today, and he had workable information that the target would be here, for the ceremony later.

He liked this cloak. It concealed his face. After this faux pilgrimage, he would keep it. It would perhaps come in useful later on, in his quest to become the greatest Sith to ever live.

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 **Today's prompt was suggested by the astounding frodogenic, as Palpatine - Pilgrim.  
** **Also, I take suggestions from reviewers, so please drop me one!**


	5. Return - Han Solo

Impossible. It was impossible. Smugglers did not get hugs from Sith Lord Supreme Commanders of the Imperial Military – except, apparently, when they managed to save said Sith Lord Supreme Commander's kids. The crash should have been fatal, except he was Han Solo and he always returned from whatever the galaxy threw at him. He'd learned – the hard way, although thanks to Chewie's quick thinking, those many years ago – that his cockpit was just going to need some extra shielding. The TIE had almost obliterated the cockpit controls but Han had learned awhile ago (don't ask) how to hack into the navcomputer from the engine room and he'd managed to hyper them (badly wounded, please make it, you maniacs, I haven't had this much fun since I started working for Jabba and besides, Her Highnessness better cough up _big time_ ,) to the nearest neutral planet with a decent medical facility (and who knew that hokey Force stuff could actually help keep people alive?)

It was all Obi-Wan could do to keep his smirk under wraps, while Luke and Leia gaped openly at the absurd scene and Chewie, the traitor, literally howled with laughter. "I, uh, appreciate the gratitude, your Lordship," (and if that honorific was just a little less snarky than he would've liked, no one but Chewbacca would know, although that was bad enough) "but, uh, assistance with repairs would be nicer..."

"Do not concern yourself with repairs, Solo, everything you need will be provided to you," the Dark Lord rumbled, carefully – and perhaps sheepishly – disengaging himself from the discomfited pilot.

"Everything?" Han perked up, a mercenary gleam entering his eye. Chewie gave a low warning rumble which was largely ignored.

Darth Vader didn't bite. "Everything your ship requires," he replied calmly.

Obi-Wan went ahead and let the smirk out, muttering, "You'd know about that."

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 **This prompt was provided by the truly wonderful LPK9, and it just meshed too well with my previous prompt featuring Han that I couldn't resist. (And overall I prefer happy endings to sad ones.)**


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